


Apart But Still Together

by futuresteven (orphan_account)



Series: unity [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, Gem Fusion, Not a ship, Other, steven’s human half is yang and his gem half is yin, steven’s kind of an unstable fusion, talking things out, they do be having an outburst tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23283763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/futuresteven
Summary: Steven’s been an unstable fusion for some time now. After something unexpected happens, his halves are forced to unfuse and to talk things out. Once done, things don’t exactly go as planned.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Pearl, Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Crystal Gems & Steven Universe, Pink Steven Universe & Steven Universe, no ships - Relationship
Series: unity [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671916
Comments: 9
Kudos: 191





	Apart But Still Together

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay P, just chill,” Amethyst said, her arms crossed. She, Steven, Connie, and the rest of the Crystal Gems all stepped off of the Warp Pad and into the Sky Arena.

“No, it’s not going to be okay!” Pearl responded, walking ahead of the others, “Gems are still supporting the old Homeworld empire and hate us for stopping it! You saw them, they tried to _shatter_ Steven’s gem!”

After some deep consideration, the gems decided it was best to continue Connie and Steven’s training. Although the majority of the gems preferred the ‘new Homeworld,’ some were still loyal to the dictatorship the Crystal Gems had worked so hard to get rid of. These gems tended to get violent most of the time towards them.

The others all stopped next to Pearl as she scanned the area around them. It seemed that no one had been here since they last left. Garnet had mentioned at some point that she wouldn’t be surprised if no one else remembered this place except for them due to how empty it always was.

“Alright,” Pearl said, summoning a Holo-Pearl, “Connie, it’s been a while since you last had lessons. For a quick recap, I want to see how you can fight on your own. If Steven is feeling better, he can join in and help at some point.”

“Yes ma’am!” Connie still has the sword gifted to her by Bismuth all those years ago. She got in position and Pearl waved the others off, insisting that Connie would need more space.

As they began to duel, the others walked to the stairs and took a seat. Steven hasn’t been here in what felt like a millennia, causing him to be hit with a wave of nostalgia. Memories both negative and positive, of the time he learned how to balance out a fusion and of the time Pearl poofed for the first time in front of him.

“Ste-man, are you feeling any better?” Amethyst had to lean back and speak from behind Garnet in order to see Steven. The other fusion was watching Connie and Pearl, unsurprisingly. Steven did the same Amethyst did and shook his head slowly.

The hybrid wasn’t doing too well, not due to any illness but rather because of his components. He felt every atom in his form shudder with instability. However, he wasn’t going to unfuse. Not here, not in front of the others. He should be focusing on his friend fighting, not on the pain that was distracting him from what was important!

Steven was glad the others didn’t see his form flicker, turning into a bright light before quickly fading into Steven once again. The hybrid examined his hands, frowning when he saw his form shudder.

“You did it before and you can do it again,” Pearl said to Connie. Steven had been tuning them out, but they seemed to be louder now, “Just believe in yourself. You will always be a Crystal Gem, meaning you have decided to protect both Steven and the Earth with your life. Maybe even possibly _die_ for him. Being a knight means you must always-”

Suddenly, he lit up pink. A bright, nearly blinding shade that forced the others to look away. Tears fell from his eyes and the floor beneath him shook, similar to what an earthquake would cause, “Shut **_UP!_ ** Stop trying to make me sound like my mom, and stop forcing Connie to be just like _you!_ She shouldn’t be how you were to mom, she should learn individuality and not live for me but for herself!”

Everything seemed to pause. The gems stared at him with wide eyes and Connie even dropped her sword. Another violent shudder in the ground snapped everyone out of their frozen positions.

Garnet placed a hand on his shoulder, startling the boy who stared up at her, “Steven, it’s okay if you need to go have a minute to yourself. Everyone needs a break sometimes.” She reassuringly smiled at him.

He was unable to reply and just quickly nodded at her before running off. The moment his feet hit the Warp Pad, he was already sent off. He didn’t know where he would warp to, but he didn’t care. As long as he wasn’t near anyone else.

Colors found their way into his vision once he finally arrived. The hybrid quickly recognized the Moon Base and ran upstairs. Of course the Warp Pad would take him here. This _was_ his mom’s base at some point, after all. 

Perhaps it only made sense that he would be led here. It was Pink Diamond’s base and he had her gem now. No noise seemed to be anywhere here as he slowly walked into the control room, only to be hit with more memories. His footsteps echoed as he walked forward, glancing around with a childlike wonder he hadn’t felt in years.

His thought process was quickly interrupted when his form shuddered again, this time much more violently than the last. With a flash of bright light, two people stood where Steven once was. Yang looked around the room with wide eyes. He had completely forgotten that this place existed.

“Why did the Warp take Steven here?” He questioned aloud, looking over to his gem for an answer. He never got one, but he did get to see Yin elegantly leap into the air. The pink version of himself landed on the throne-like chair gracefully, using his floating powers to do so, before taking a seat and staring at Yang with blank eyes.

When the human, too, began to float, he realized that his gem had bubbled him. Within seconds, the bubble popped and he was in Yin’s arms. Yang giggled, knowing that his gem had done this because he had no control over gravity and the moon had no oxygen. The energy and power radiating off of Yin was more than enough to keep them both alive. The star light from outside shined nicely into the gem’s diamond eyes, looking just like what his mother once had.

The silence was replaced by Yin’s voice, “You got us into this mess.” His words came out smoothly and Yang’s breath hitched. Who knew that a blank stare could hold so much disappointment, so much disenchantment?

“Yin, I’m sorry, I…” Tears filled up in the corners of Yang’s eyes. Guilt clawed at him from the insides, “I wasn’t thinking, I just didn’t want people to think that Steven is just like Pink. Plus, things always need to be worse before they get better, right?”

“You always tell me not to use my destructive powers because I’ll hurt people,” Yin ignored his question, “That’s what Steven just did. You were the one who made Steven do it.” Even his gem was still processing their fusion’s sudden outburst.

Yang averted his eyes from his gem’s gaze, “I know. I’m sorry.” The human knew that it was him who made Steven suddenly lash out at his friends, no, not friends, _family._ They both remained silent again after this was said. 

“Steven’s been unstable lately.” Yin spoke up as he cradled Yang in his arms. He had always been blunt whenever possible, something that was annoying but _could_ be helpful every once in a while. 

Yang nodded, “Yeah, I know that. What could we be doing wrong? We talk things out and everything! In fact, Steven was a very stable fusion for fourteen years straight! He was even more stable than Garnet!”

“Notes in our database say that we don’t know each other too well,” Yin said, face blank as he heard Yang gasp loudly.

“Yin, you’re right!” The human bounced up, only to be held back down by Yin when he began to float again, “We’ve spent so much time loving Steven that we don’t know each other!”

The gem could only watch as his human’s eyes lit up at the realization. Although Yin agreed with his theory (because _his_ databases found it) even he wasn’t as excited about it. Yang smiled.

“So, what do you like to do?” The human asked.

The gem shrugged, “Anything Steven likes to do.”

“Not the answer I was hoping for, but okay! What’s your favorite color?”

“Pink, I guess.”

Yang stared at Yin with a frown, “There _has_ to be something else that you enjoy to do! Like, a hobby? Or a talent?”

“Talking to you,” the gem answered. Yang let out a sigh, at least that was something. He tried to think of other things the two would do together, and jumped up again when he thought of an idea. When Yin reached up to grab Yang again, the human stepped away from his hand.

Now the gem looked confused. Yang began to float up but held out a hand to the other, a small smile on his face, “Let’s dance.”

Yin scanned over the human, puzzlement etched onto his features. However, he still got up and grabbed the other’s hand.

Yang smiled radiantly as Yin’s gem began to light up and they were suddenly floating near the ceiling of the base. The gem grabbed both of his human’s hands and spun him around.

Within just a few moments, they were both smiling brightly. Even Yin would occasionally laugh, a sound so weird and foreign to Yang.

“I like dancing,” Yin said, spinning the two of them around once again and speaking over his human’s laughter. Yang nodded in agreement, laughing too much to even speak up.

This made Yin’s smile brighten. He spun the human around a few times before letting go of him. Yang was unable to stop twirling around and began to get scared, the world blurring around him.

These thoughts were halted when Yin grabbed Yang and pulled him down onto the ground. The human let out a sigh of relief when he heard a laugh come from Yin. His laugh was strangely melodic, something he hadn’t heard come from anything else.

The two leaned in to touch foreheads and the room around them glowed. For just a split second, they were Steven and the feeling of being incomplete faded out. However, another flash of light could be seen and they quickly unfused. 

“Why didn’t we fuse?” Yang asked, looking up at Yin with a confused expression. His gem seemed just as puzzled as he was. The two decided to play it off and tried to fuse again, only for their limbs to flail around hopelessly as they unfused mere seconds later.

The two of them tried to fuse multiple times. Each and every time, they’d unfuse before Steven could even be there for five seconds. At first, they were just confused, and tried again and again. After so many tries, they began to grow frustrated.

“Okay,” Yang said, staring at Yin with determination after the two began to think about things for a few moments, “I think I get it. You try to fuse with me first this time, instead of me trying to fuse with you first. I promise, after this try we don’t have to try again.

The gem shrugged and stepped forward, grabbing his human’s hand and spinning him around again. When they were facing each other again, he wrapped his arms around the now dizzy human and his gem shone.

They kept their eyes shut after Yin made them touch foreheads, but they didn’t unfuse this time around. A sense of relief came over Steven as he hugged himself, mumbling a small ‘thank you’ to his gem before he quickly ran down to the Warp Pad again.

Once they arrived back in the Sky Arena, Steven was able to see Connie and Pearl dueling now, the Holo-Pearl laying untouched a few feet away from the two. The hybrid rushed over to his seat next to Garnet.

Both Amethyst _and_ Garnet stared at him as if they had just seen a ghost. This confused the boy and he raised a brow, “Is everything okay?”

“Dude…” The purple gem said, “What’s with the whole get-up? It looks really cool.”

“Get-up?” Steven repeated, even more bewildered now than before, “I’m wearing what I always wear!”

Pearl and Connie came rushing over. Pearl grabbed the boy’s shoulders, “Steven! What happened to you? Are you okay, did someone hurt you?”

Connie wore a concerned expression, “Are you feeling okay?” The boy didn’t reply, not knowing what the others were even talking about. He felt for his gem— _yep, still there_ — and looked over his outfit. Everything seemed normal.

His ‘knight’ quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned it on to front facing camera mode. As soon as she handed the phone over to Steven, the boy froze. He was looking at a different person.

He was still Steven. He still had a baby face at the age of sixteen and had many of the same facial features. But Steven seems to have changed. His right eye was a pink diamond eye, just like what Yin had, and his right eyebrow was the same shade of pink that Yin’s was. Some parts of his hair were a tiny bit curlier and he had a few pink strands of hair.

“...Did they fuse wrong?” The hybrid gave Connie her phone back and looked up at Garnet. The other fusion nodded slowly.

“Looks like you’ll need another lesson on balance.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, there will be a second part to this posted as soon as possible! Don’t kill me for leaving you on a cliffhanger 😭  
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> EDIT: Part 2 is out! It’s the next part of the series titled ‘Fusion Practice.’


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